Books to Show or Booktalk

Poles Apart: Why Penguins and Polar Bears Will Never Be Neighbors by Elaine Scott.

Bulletin Board

Way Up North in the Wild

Cover a bulletin board with white craft paper. Draw igloos directly onto the paper, or cut them from other paper and glue them to the board. Add book shapes cut from colored paper and tape or glue them at the entrances to the igloos. Write titles appropriate to the theme on the book shapes. Igloo patterns can be found on several Web sites, including AHA! Activities to Help Achievement at www.standardsmadeeasy.com.

Rhymes and Poetry

Read “Glacial Pace” from Earthshake by Lisa Westberg Peters.

Stories

Tell the story, “How the Sun was Rescued.” This Siberian tale is simple to learn and tells how a small animal was able to do what larger animals could not. A picture book version, How Snowshoe Hare Rescued the Sun by Emery Bernhart, is out of print but may be available through interlibrary loan.

Tell stories about Raven, the trickster, such as Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest by Gerald McDermott.

Directions

In advance, cut the poster board in pieces slightly larger than the polar bear pattern. Instruct the children to trace the polar bear pattern onto white poster board. After they cut out the polar bear, have them glue on cotton balls to cover the bear and add black dots for the eye and a nose. If the cotton balls cover the head area, stick the eyes and nose onto the cotton. Alternatively, touch the cotton with black marker to form the eye and nose. Glue the finished product onto a white or light blue background and complete the drawing by adding landscape details with crayons or markers.

Paper Snowflakes

Materials

White paper

Scissors

Directions

Make 8.5-inch squares of white paper by cutting 2.5 inches from an 8.5 X 11 inch letter size typing paper. Show the children how to fold the square sheet of paper to form a six-sided star. Once the paper is folded, let the children cut designs in it to form snowflakes. Let the children make one or several, depending on the time and supplies available. Step-by-step instructions and diagrams are on the High Hopes.com Web site at www.highhopes.com/snowflakes.html.

Activities

Iditarod Maze

Duplicate the activity sheet provided and let the children complete it during your program, or give it to them as a handout to take home.

Guest Speakers

Invite someone who has visited or lived in Alaska to tell about the experience. Ask a pet store or pet owner to bring an Alaskan malamute or husky for the children to meet. Ask the staff at a sporting goods store to bring a small kayak and paddle for the children to see.

Videos/DVDs

If you have a public performance license, show brief segments of one of these videos. Otherwise, display the videos for circulation.

This Web site is not aimed at children but contains lots of information about polar bears for the serious student. The index at the left of the screen makes it easy to select specific topics of interest.